Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

BURNABY, B.C. — Best Buy Canada and its subsidiary Future Shop are taking the issue of online competition head on with revised price match and return policies in response to the changing nature of retail in Canada and commitment to customer service.

LOS ANGELES — Back-to-school shoppers plan on stretching their dollar and taking advantage of retailer incentives to save, PriceGrabber said.

Armonk, N.Y. – In-store sales of women’s clothing are expected to see a 9.2% increase in the third quarter of 2012 versus the year-ago period, according to a just-released IBM analytics-based forecast of U.S. retail sales data. The report predicts a 6.2% increase in sales of children’s clothing and a 5.2% increase in footwear. Men’s clothing, however, is forecast to lag, dropping 6.7%.

Visa and MasterCard announced a proposed $6.6 billion settlement to a long-running dispute over the fees they charge merchants, but a growing number of voices are saying not so fast.

Dollar General shoppers have until Aug. 19 to participate in a PepsiCo cause marketing initiative involving country mega star Brad Paisley.

New York -- A survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman-Sachs found that 42% of U.S. consumers expect to spend more on back-to-school items this year than they did in 2011.

With the back-to-school shopping season already well underway as one-third of households reported that they have begun to shop, ICSC and Goldman-Sachs expect the average household expenditure on all types of back-to-school items will be about $300 this year.

By Jeff Fowler, [email protected]

Miami -- Mobile coupon application provider Geopon said Tuesday that it has collaborated with mall owner Westfield to debut an Android app that combines geo-targeted coupons with electronic reward programs and payment processing.
 
The new app launched Tuesday in the South Florida market and, said Geopon, will soon be joined by the iPhone, which is currently in beta testing.

The entire platform will be unveiled on Sept. 6 at the Westfield Broward Mall, in Plantation, Fla.